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Judicial selection

The seven justices on the court, one chief justice and six associate justices are elected to six-year terms on a nonpartisan ballot. In the case of a vacancy occurring between elections the governor would appoint a justice.[1] Candidates run on the ballot without their political affiliation, however, the affiliation is known prior to the election as the parties "nominate" the candidates for their primary elections.[2]

Qualifications

To be a qualified candidate for the Ohio Supreme Court, a person must have practiced law for at least six years, must be admitted to the Bar in Ohio and be younger than 70 years.[1]

Jurisdiction

The Ohio Supreme Court has appellate jurisdiction in cases regarding the state or national constitution, cases that originated in the courts of appeals, cases of conflicting opinions in the appellate courts, cases involving the death penalty, and may review the Public Utilities Commission and the Board of Tax Appeals.

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The Supreme Court has original jurisdiction to issue extraordinary writs. These include writs of habeas corpus (inquiring into the cause of an allegedly unlawful imprisonment or deprivation of custody), writs of mandamus (ordering a public official to perform a required act), writs of procedendo (compelling a lower court to proceed to judgment in a case), writs of prohibition (ordering a lower court to stop abusing or usurping judicial functions), and writs of quo warranto (issued against a person or corporation for usurpation, misuse, or abuse of public office or corporate office or franchise)."[1][3]

Political outlook

In October 2012, political science professors Adam Bonica and Michael Woodruff of Stanford University attempted to determine the partisan outlook of state supreme court justices in their paper, State Supreme Court Ideology and 'New Style' Judicial Campaigns. A score above 0 indicated a more conservative leaning ideology while scores below 0 were more liberal. The state Supreme Court of Ohio was given a Campaign finance score (CFscore) which was calculated for judges in October 2012. At that time, Ohio received a score of 0.62. Based on the justices selected, Ohio was the 7th most conservative court. The study is based on data from campaign contributions by judges themselves, the partisan leaning of contributors to the judges or, in the absence of elections, the ideology of the appointing body (governor or legislature). This study is not a definitive label of a justice but rather, an academic gauge of various factors.[5]

Financial disclosure

In December 2013, the Center for Public Integrity released a study on disclosure requirements for state supreme court judges. Analysts from the Center reviewed the rules governing financial disclosure in each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as personal financial disclosures for the past three years. The study found that 42 states and Washington D.C. received failing grades. Ohio earned a grade of F in the study. No state received a grade higher than "C". Furthermore, due in part to these lax disclosure standards, the study found 35 instances of questionable gifts, investments overlapping with caseloads and similar potential ethical quandaries. The study also noted 14 cases in which justices participated although they or their spouses held stock in the company involved in the litigation.[7]

Removal of justices

Justices may be removed in one of three ways:

A formal complaint alleging judicial misconduct may be filed with a grievance committee of the board of commissioners or a disciplinary counsel. Both are authorized to investigate the report of misconduct and, if, after a finding of credible evidence substantiating the misconduct, the Ohio Supreme Court may then create a commission made up of five judges to determine whether or not the removal, suspension, or retirement of the judge is called for.

Notable cases

In October 2013, Republican Governor John Kasich moved to implement a $2.56 billion-dollar Medicaid expansion plan in Ohio. Governor Kasich, argued that his decision was out of concern that there was a “war on the poor,” and utilized the Ohio Controlling Board, a subdivision of the Ohio Office of Budget and Management, to push through the expenditure of the federal aid provided by the Affordable Care Act.[10][11] In response, two chapters of the organization Right to Life and six Republican members of the Ohio House of Representatives filed suit against the Ohio Controlling Board and the Ohio Department of Medicaid. The suit contested the Controlling Board’s authority to accept such funds without the support of the Ohio General Assembly. They argued that the Ohio Constitution “forbids the delegation of such major policymaking authority to a small administrative board of legislators” and they are seeking a writ of mandamus to nullify the Controlling Board’s allegedly unlawful action which failed to pass “statutory and constitutional scrutiny.”[12]

The Ohio Supreme Court rejected this argument, stating in part,

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The Ohio Constitution expressly confers upon the governor authority to excise any item or items in an appropriation bill, and such disapproved items “shall be void.” But the Ohio Revised Code 127.17, as construed by relators, would operate as a statutory negation of the governor’s constitutional powers. The General Assembly would have the power to command the Controlling Board, in all cases, to disregard the governor’s veto in the implementation of appropriations. This interpretation is clearly contrary to the checks and balances that are critical to our constitutional democracy.[3]

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• Freshwater v. Mt. Vernon City School District Board of Education (2013)

In Freshwater v. Mt. Vernon City School District Board of Education, a divided Ohio Supreme Court ruled that a Mt. Vernon school teacher’s firing was justified on grounds of insubordination, leaving the larger issue of religion in schools to be debated another day. The 4-3 decision affirmed the school’s decision to fire John Freshwater, a high school science teacher, because he had refused to remove religious objects from his classroom, including a bible and a poster of a U.S. President in prayer. Though school officials erred in demanding that Freshwater remove his personal bible from his desk, his termination was a legitimate result of ignoring “direct, lawful edicts from his superiors while in the workplace,” the court said.[14]

Hollie Reedy, the chief legal counsel for the Ohio School Boards Association, stated:

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[The decision] upholds the right of the board to direct teachers to teach the curriculum and not to share religious beliefs with children that are not part of the curriculum.[15][3]

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Freshwater, however, had maintained that his religious materials were meant to inspire his students, not espouse a particular religion. Witness testimony told of Freshwater showing classroom videos discussing creationism and intelligent design, as well as occasionally distributing religious literature to his students. Freshwater also kept a book on Christianity and an Oxford Bible in his classroom. Court documents revealed that Freshwater had put up a poster on the classroom wall depicting former President George W. Bush and former Secretary of State Colin Powell in prayer with a scriptural passage at the bottom.[16]

In a spirited dissent, Justice Paul Pfeifer lambasted the majority’s decision, claiming that they had “set a very low bar” for insubordination in public schools. Pfeifer also argued that by refusing to tackle the larger constitutional issues of the religious freedom of public school teachers, the court had “[walked] away from the opportunity to provide helpful guidance to every school board in Ohio…who could benefit from knowing more about the extent of and limits on their academic freedom.”[14][17]

• Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation v. Schwartzwald (2012)

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In Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation v. Schwartzwald, the Ohio Supreme Court held that a mortgage holder must have standing prior to filing a foreclosure action against a homeowner. In this case, the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, (“Freddie Mac”) foreclosed on the Schwartzwalds’ home for defaulting on their mortgage. However, before they commenced their foreclosure action, Freddie Mac did not have an assignment of the promissory note securing the mortgage from the previous mortgage holder. The Ohio Supreme Court held in favor of the Schwartzwalds, stating that in order to have standing to file a suit, Freddie Mac needed to have the assignment of the promissory note at the time it filed its foreclosure action and also could not cure its lack of standing after the fact.[18]

History

Ohio Supreme Court building in Columbus, Ohio

1802: The adoption of the Ohio Constitution in 1802 created a supreme court for the State of Ohio, under Article IV of the Ohio Constitution. The Ohio Supreme Court, at first, consisted of only three justices who were appointed to the court by the Ohio General Assembly and were required to hold court in every county by traveling on horseback.

1834: By 1834, the Ohio Supreme Court had jurisdiction over 72 counties and the justices covered 2,000 miles (by horseback) every year.

1851: The Ohio Constitution was revised. The new revisions included adding two more justices to the court and changing the judicial selection method, so that the justices were now elected to the court.

1912: An amendment to the Ohio Constitution increased the court to its current membership of seven justices and established the office of the chief justice of the court. The amendment also set the judicial term to six-years, which still holds today.

1977: The Court created the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, which serves to investigate and prosecute complaints and misconduct of the state's judges and attorneys.

2004: The Ohio Supreme Court moved to its current residence, at the Ohio Judicial Center, located at 65 South Front Street in Columbus, Ohio.[19][20]